CA Unpub Decisions

A jury convicted Miguel Ramos of three counts of forcible lewd acts with a child under the age of 14 (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (b)(1) ; counts 1, 3, and 4) and one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child (§ 269, subd. (a)(3); count 2). The trial court sentenced Ramos to 3 five-year consecutive terms for counts 1, 3, and 4, and a consecutive 15-year to life term for count 2 for an aggregate term of 30 years to life in state prison.
Ramos contends there is insufficient evidence of force or duress to support the convictions for forcible lewd conduct (counts 1, 3, and 4). We affirm.

Haben Beyene Michael appeals following the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty pleas. Michael obtained a certificate of probable cause from the trial court. (Pen. Code, § 1237.5.) He contends his decision to plead guilty was the result of undue, and improper duress by his retained counsel. Following an evidentiary hearing the court denied the motion to withdraw the pleas. After a full review of the record we conclude the court properly found Michael had not shown good cause to withdraw his pleas. Thus, we will affirm the judgment.

Defendant and appellant Jaime Tranquilino Martines appeals from the trial court’s ruling denying his motion to vacate his 1999 conviction for possessing methamphetamine. Defendant moved to vacate the 16-year-old conviction on the ground he was not properly advised in Spanish of the potential immigration consequences of a guilty plea. We affirm, based on the change of plea form.

Brandon Lamar Martin (defendant) appeals from the denial of his petition for resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.18, a statute added by Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. Defendant asserts his burglary convictions are eligible for resentencing because they would have been convictions for shoplifting, punishable as misdemeanors under section 459.5, another statute added by Proposition 47. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Appellant Gerald D. Longmire appeals from the judgment entered following his plea of no contest to possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1)) with admissions he suffered a prior felony conviction and a prior felony conviction for which he served a separate prison term (Pen. Code, §§ 667.5, subd. (b) & 667, subd. (d)(1)), following the denial of his motion to suppress evidence (Pen. Code, § 1538.5). Appellant claims the trial court erroneously denied his suppression motion. We disagree and affirm the judgment.

Two men in their 20’s, appellants Cameron Joseph Jones and Humberto Javier Carranza, lured a high school student to have sex with them, knowing she was 16. Thereafter, they “groomed” her and arranged to sell her sexual services on the internet. The enterprise ended when a “Good Samaritan” saw a “Missing Person” posting by the minor’s family and alerted them to the minor’s whereabouts. Appellants painted themselves as pawns used by the minor to satisfy her need for attention, but the jury was not swayed by the “blame the victim” approach.

Appellant Verndell Raymone Hicks appeals his 2015 sentence, arguing it improperly includes a one-year enhancement for a prior prison term under Penal Code section 667.5, subdivision (b) (section 667.5(b)). That enhancement was based on a 2013 felony drug possession conviction, which was designated a misdemeanor pursuant to Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Act), one year after he was sentenced in 2015, while this appeal was pending. Under In re Estrada (1965) 63 Cal.2d 740, 748 (Estrada), we conclude that Proposition 47 applies to section 667.5(b) enhancements in judgments that are not yet final. Because Hicks’s judgment is not yet final, we strike the enhancement.

Edgar Nolverto Guevara appeals the trial court’s order revoking probation and sentencing him to four years in state prison. In July 2016, appellant pled no contest to inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant (Pen. Code, § 273.5, subd. (a)). Imposition of sentence was suspended and appellant was granted probation with various terms and conditions.
The court subsequently found appellant in violation of his probation, revoked probation, and sentenced him to the upper term of four years in state prison. Appellant’s request for a certificate of probable cause was denied.

Defendant and appellant Duane Hubert Grover pleaded guilty to the court as charged to unlawful possession of a firearm (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1); count 1), unlawful possession of ammunition (§ 30305, subd. (a); count 2), receiving stolen property (§ 496, subd. (a); count 3), and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm in public (§ 25850, subd. (c)(6); count 4). Defendant also admitted that he had suffered one prior strike conviction (§§ 667, subd. (c) & (e)(1), 1170.12, subd. (c)(1)). In return, the trial court gave defendant an indicated sentence of probation with a year in local custody if it granted his motion to strike his prior strike conviction or 16 months in state prison. The court also warned defendant that if he did not appear at the date of sentencing, the court would impose the maximum term.

In April 2014, defendant and appellant Jeanette Romie Gatson pleaded guilty to 37 felony counts of violating various provisions of the Penal and Health and Safety Codes, and admitted to five prison prior allegations (Pen. Code, § 667.5, subd. (b)) and two alleged out-on-bail enhancements (§ 12022.1). The trial court imposed an aggregate sentence of 15 years in state prison.

In March 2016, the Oxnard Police Department conducted a parole search of Garcia’s home. As a result of the search, he was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. (§§ 29900, subd. (a)(1), 30305, subd. (a)(1).) The complaint alleged a prior conviction and prison term for assault.

Appellant Artero M. Collins appeals from a judgment following his conviction by jury of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)), and attempted premeditated murder (§§ 664 & 187, subd. (a)), with findings as to each crime that appellant personally used a firearm, personally and intentionally discharged a firearm, and personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury or death (§ 12022.53, subds. (b)-(e)(1)) and committed the offense for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)(C)), with court findings that appellant suffered two prior convictions within the meaning of the Three Strikes Law (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(i) & 1170.12, subds. (a)-(d)).

After both the preliminary hearing magistrate and the trial court denied his motion to suppress, defendant James Henry Brown pleaded no contest to possessing methamphetamine for purposes of sale (Health & Saf. Code, § 11378, count one), and to being a felon in possession of a firearm. (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)(1), count two.) He admitted one strike prior. The court sentenced him to a total term of six years in prison and did not award him any presentence conduct credits.
Defendant appeals the denial of his suppression motion, arguing he was unlawfully detained because officers lacked a reasonable suspicion based upon articulable facts that he was involved in any criminal activity. He also contends no exceptions to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement justified following him into the residence after he tried to flee upon seeing the officers.

A jury found Ernest Blackwell guilty of second degree murder and also found he personally discharged a handgun, causing the victim’s death. The trial court sentenced him to 40 years to life in prison. He contends the court violated his constitutional rights by failing to instruct the jury that to prove murder, the prosecution bears the burden of disproving heat of passion and imperfect self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. We find the court properly instructed the jury and, accordingly, affirm the judgment.